1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to the manufacture of a multiplicity of packages for an individual service portion of a spreadable product and, more specifically, to certain new and useful improvements in the method and apparatus for manufacturing such packages.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
Prior to the 1960's, portioned butter (margarine was then a minimal factor in food service) was pre-packaged, sold to and used by the great majority of foodservice establishments in small rectangles, called "pats", generally embossed with the insignia of the producer or, in the instance of large chain consumers, with the consumer's own logo.
At that time, it was the practice of foodservice establishments such as hospitals, cafeterias, government institutions, airlines, railroads and the like, to place the individual butter pats on small individual pieces rectangular paperboard, approximately two inches square, bent upwards at a shallow angle on all four sides, called butter "chips", just prior to each meal. The cost at that time for the paperboard "chips", butter pats and labor ran on the order of five cents per pound (at present rates adjusted for inflation this might represent 20 to 30 cents per pound, a very significant number, to which could be added the cost of Producing the pats as well as the packaging materials for the loose butter pats).
In response to the need to automate the entire aforesaid process, Applicant was granted the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,129,546 for a machine which produced approximately 1,500 individual portion packages per minute, including forming the individual rectangular butter pats, placing the pats on the paperboard chips and also placing a small piece of parchment paper on the top of each pat. The paperboard chips used in the patented machine were made in an approximate two inch square and bent upwards at a shallow angle along two edges to simulate the aforesaid handmade packages. The paper covering each butter pat had the dual function of providing a degree of protection for the butter against contamination by dirt, dust or other airborne particles and, more importantly, permitted the pats to be stacked one on top of the other. Applicant also was granted the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 3,651,652, directed to improvements to the machine described in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,129,546, including means for automatically counting and loading the pats into trays (known as "boats") and delivering them to an operator for loading into shipping containers.
Butter pats produced by the aforesaid Redmond patented machines and in the aforesaid configuration were extremely successful and have been a staple article of commerce for a number of years. However, despite their enormous commercial success, the aforesaid packages suffered the disadvantage that they were open on four sides, permitting the passage of air about the butter, and thus could become contaminated by dirt, bacteria or the like. Also, these packages could be produced on a misadjusted machine and with inferior materials, and therefore could be bf poor quality and sloppy appearance.
Various alternative package structures have since been developed in which the butter is completely enclosed, such as placing the butter in a cup or "tub" covered over with a foil-like top, or completely wrapping the butter in foil. However, these packages have suffered other drawbacks in that the materials from which they are made are expensive, their production is slow (on the order of 500/minute), and the equipment required for making them is expensive, unwieldy and complicated. Moreover, these packages are difficult to open and the butter is difficult to remove from the package, invariably resulting in greasy fingers and/or wasted product.
Applicant also was recently granted the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,350 directed to a method and apparatus for manufacturing a further alternative structure, providing a sealed butter pat package which also could be manufactured at the same high speed as his original package, but in which the butter pat continued to be centered on an approximate two inch square base or "chip". In this package, upon folding the cover into a three-dimensional shape a pleat is formed which extends over an edge of the base to permit the cover member to be grasped and peeled from both the margins of the base, to which it is peelably adhered, and the butter pat.
Applicant has now discovered a new and novel method and apparatus for manufacturing a novel and greatly improved package configuration which accomplishes a number of advantages and benefits over the aforesaid handmade butter pat packages and Applicant's own previously patented automatically produced packages, as well as over the various other configurations for sealed butter pat packages.
3. Objects of the invention.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for automatically producing rigid uniized individual service portion packages of butter or a similar product.
A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for automatically producing rigid unitized individual service portion packages of butter or a similar product wherein the package is formed of three members, comprising a channel-shaped top cover, the product itself and a channel-shaped bottom, the top and bottom channels being in adhering contact with the encased product.
A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for automatically producing the aforesaid rigid unitized packages substantially enclosing an adhered to a rectangular pat of butter or similar product at high speed and yet with improved quality and consistency in the appearance of the package.
A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for automatically producing the aforesaid rigid unitized packages of butter or a similar product in which novel feeding, scoring and forming means sharply and accurately define the corners of the channel members forming the package so as to impart a crisp and clean appearance to the finished package.
A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for automatically producing the aforesaid rigid unitized packages of butter or a similar product wherein the package is comprised of upper and lower channel-shaped members in opposed alignment above and below the enclosed product in which the opposed channel sides of the top cover are in adhering contact with the top and two opposed sides of the enclosed product and the opposed channel sides of the bottom channel member overlap and abut the outer surfaces of the top cover channel sides and adhere to the bottom and sides of the enclosed product.
A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for automatically producing the aforesaid rigid unitized packages of butter or a similar product wherein opposed upper and lower channel members are pre-formed and then reopened to a substantially flat configuration prior to deposit of the pat of product onto the lower channel member and prior to adherence of the upper channel member to the product.
A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for automatically producing the aforesaid rigid unitized packages of butter or a similar product in which the package is comprised of a relatively thin upper channel member in adhering contact with the top and at least a portion of two sides of the product and a relatively thick and rigid bottom channel member onto which the product is deposited and whose channel sides adhere to and are in close fitting relationship to the bottom and two sides of the enclosed product and are also in overlapping contacting relationship with the channel sides of the upper channel member, and in which the lengths of the upper and lower channel members preferably extend beyond both sides of the enclosed product not adhered to the channel members to facilitate the handling and use of the package and protection of the product.
Objects and advantages of the invention are set forth in part herein and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by practice with the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.
The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements, combinations, steps and improvements herein shown and described.